South Africa’s building material retailer Cashbuild in a statement on Tuesday said its December quarter revenue had jumped 8.3% to record a 15% growth from the matching period in 2014.
Cashbuild said it had opened 15 new stores since July 1 2014 which had contributed to 4% of the quarterly increase and it is subsequently making the final results for the period.
The group deals in building materials including cement, bricks, tiles, paints, bathroom suites, geysers and hand-held and power tools. It has 213 existing stores which saw the revenue soar by 11%.
Avior retail analyst Kyle Rollinson commended the 15% growth saying it was extremely good.
“Cashbuild has been very prudent in opening new stores,” he added.
He further said that despite South Africa’s poor economy, no pressure has trickled down to the consumer but there was a negative outlook for consumers due to price inflation among other things.
Cashbuild’s transactions during the second quarter had risen to 4%. The same period, in which five new stores were opened, three refurbished and one store relocated, bringing the number of stores trading at the end of the quarter to 228.
Compared to December 2014 prices, selling inflation was at 2% at the end of last month, with Gross profit margins at similar levels to those reported for the first half of the previous year .
South African stores were the leading with total sales of 88% with the rest coming from stores in Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Malawi and Lesotho.
Large portions of government infrastructure spend in South Africa have shifted to road infrastructure and human settlements in rural areas, boosting smaller listed companies that service the building sector.
Market capitalizations for the country’s biggest construction groups have plunged since the end of the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa and have since pushed them over the country’s borders.
Competition authority penalties for collusion in the construction industry have meanwhile exerted pressure to difficult domestic and global markets.
